MEXICO PERMANENTLY BANS GILLNETS IN VAQUITA'S RANGE
Image by Lance Fairly
Vaquita Supporters around the world were thrilled by recent news that the Mexican Government is permanently banning gillnets in the vaquita's range! According to a Fact Sheet released by the White House following a high-profile meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena-Nieto and US President Barack Obama,
"Both Presidents committed to intensify bilateral cooperation to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise, including through the following actions:
Mexico will make permanent a ban on the use of gillnets in all fisheries throughout the range of the vaquita in the upper Gulf of California;
Both countries will increase cooperation and enforcement efforts to immediately halt the illegal fishing for and illegal trade in totoaba swim bladders;
Both countries will redouble efforts, in collaboration with international experts, to develop alternative fishing gear to gillnets that does not result in the entanglement of vaquita and establish “vaquita-safe” fisheries; and
Both countries will establish and implement a long-term program to remove and permanently dispose of illegal and derelict fishing gear from vaquita habitat in the upper Gulf of California."
This is enormous news for the vaquita and marks a major milestone in the long battle to save it. Stay tuned for more news from Muskwa, and stay updated at www.vlogvaquita.com.
